ARTICLE IX. HOTEL OCCUPANCY TAX

Sec. 44-191. Definitions.

The following words, terms and phrases,
when used in this article, shall have
the meanings ascribed to them in this
section, except where the context clearly
indicates a different meaning:

Hotel accommodations;
motel accommodations means any
building or buildings in which the
public may, for a consideration, obtain
living quarters, sleeping or housekeeping
accommodations. The term includes,
but is not limited to, inns, motels,
tourist homes or courts, lodginghouses,
roominghouses and apartment houses.
The term does not include a room in
a dormitory operated by a religious
organization, school, college or university
for use by its students, faculty, or
staff. Such building or buildings may
sometimes be referred to herein as
a “facility” or “hotel”.
A hotel or motel accommodation is sometimes
referred to herein as a “hotel room” or “room”.

Owner means any person having
an ownership interest in or conducting
the operation of a hotel or receiving
the consideration for the rental of such
hotel room.

Permanent resident means
a tenant who, by written lease, has been
granted a real interest in a specific
hotel or motel accommodation by a landlord
for a term of not less than one (1) month.

Resident employee means any
person who works and lives in the same
hotel.

Tax collector means an owner
maintaining a place of business in the
city.

(Ord. No. 087-5754, § 1, 12-29-87;
Ord. No. O03-96, § 1, 7-22-03)

Sec. 44-192. Tax; incidence; payment;
collection.

Tax imposed. A tax is hereby levied
and imposed upon the use and privilege
of renting, leasing or letting a
hotel room within the city at a rate
of three (3) percent of the room rental
rate (not including taxes or other non-room
rental charges added to the hotel
bill) for each such hotel room rented
for every twenty-four-hour period or
any fraction thereof.

Incidence of
tax. The ultimate
incidence of and liability for payment
of the tax is to be borne by the
person who seeks the privilege of occupying
the hotel room, such person hereinafter
referred to as rentor.

Payment of tax. The tax herein
levied shall be paid in addition
to any and all other taxes and charges.
It shall be the duty of the owner
of every hotel to secure the tax from
the rentor of the hotel room and
to pay the tax over to the treasurer
under the procedures prescribed by the
treasurer, or as otherwise provided in
this article.

Collection. Every person required
to collect the tax levied by this
article shall secure the tax from the
rentor at the time he collects the rental
payment for the hotel room. The amount
due under the tax provided in this
article shall be stated separately
upon the invoice, receipt or other
statement or memorandum given to
the rentor at the time of payment.

(Ord. No. 087-5754, § 1, 12-29-87)

Sec. 44-193. Certificate of registration;
bond.

Every owner maintaining a place
of business in the city shall obtain
a certificate of registration as a tax
collector from the treasurer no later
than thirty (30) days after commencing
such business.

Application for a certificate
of registration shall be made to the
treasurer upon forms furnished by him.
Each such application shall be signed
and verified by the applicant or a properly
accredited agent, which in the case of
a corporation shall include the president,
any vice-president, the secretary, the
treasurer or some other properly accredited
agent acceptable to the treasurer. The
application shall state:

The name of the applicant and
the address of the principal place of
business.

The residence address of the
principal officers and the manager.

The address of the principal
place of business from which he engages
in the business of providing hotel
accommodations.

The applicant’s estimated receipts
from rentors’ use and privilege of
renting, leasing or subletting a
hotel room within the city.

Such other information as the
treasurer may reasonably require.

Every applicant for a certificate
of registration hereunder shall,
within thirty (30) days after he commences
to engage in the business of providing
hotel accommodations, furnish a cash
bond or a bond from a surety company
authorized to do business in the state,
or a bond secured by an assignment of
a bank account or certificate of deposit,
conditioned upon the applicant paying
to the city all moneys becoming due under
this article. The treasurer shall fix
the amount of such security in each case,
taking into consideration the amount
of money expected to become due from
the applicant under this article. The
amount of security required by the treasurer
shall be such as in his opinion, will
protect the city against failure to pay
the amount which may become due from
the applicant under this article, but
the amount of the security required by
the treasurer shall not exceed three
(3) times the amount of the applicant’s
average monthly tax collection and
remission liability, or fifty thousand
dollars ($50,000.00), whichever amount
is lower, but in no case less than fifty
dollars ($50.00). No certificate of registration
under this article shall be issued
by the treasurer until the applicant
provides the treasurer with satisfactory
security as herein provided for. The
treasurer may waive the furnishing of
a bond until July 1, 1988.

Upon receipt of the application
for a certificate of registration in
proper form, and upon approval by the
treasurer of the security furnished by
the applicant, the treasurer shall issue
to such applicant a certificate of registration,
provided that no certificate of registration
shall be issued to any person who is
in default to the city for moneys due
under this article or any other article
of this Code.

If the person so registered states
that he operates other such places
of business in the city, the treasurer
shall furnish him with a subcertificate
of registration for each place of business.
All subcertificates of registration
shall bear the same registration number
as that appearing upon the certificate
of registration to which such subcertificates
related.

The certificate of registration
shall be conspicuously displayed at the
place of business which the person so
registered states in his application
to be the principal place of business
from which he engages in the business
of providing hotel accommodations in
this city. A subcertificate of registration
shall be similarly displayed at the
place of business to which it relates.

With respect to security other
than a bond from a surety company authorized
to do business in the state upon
which the treasurer may sue in the event
of a forfeiture, if the tax collector
fails to pay, when due, any amount whose
payment such security guarantees, the
treasurer shall, after such liability
is admitted by the tax collector or established
by the treasurer through the issuance
of a final assessment that has become
final as provided by law, convert the
security which that tax collector has
furnished into money for the city after
first giving the tax collector at least
ten (10) days’ written notice, by registered
or certified mail, to pay the liability
or forfeit such security to the treasurer.
If the security consists of a bank certificate
of deposit, the treasurer shall convert
the security into money by demanding
and collecting the amount of such
bank certificate of deposit from the
bank which issued such certificate. If
the treasurer realizes more from the
security than the amount of such liability
plus the expenses incurred by the treasurer
in converting the security into money,
the treasurer shall pay such excess
to the tax collector who furnished such
security and the balance shall be
paid into the general fund.

The treasurer shall discharge
any surety and shall release and return
any security deposited, assigned, pledged
or otherwise provided to it by a
tax collector under this section within
thirty (30) days after:

Such tax collector has ceased
to collect receipts on which he is
required to remit tax to the treasurer,
has filed a final tax return, and
has paid to the treasurer an amount
sufficient to discharge this remaining
liability, as determined by the treasurer
under this article.

The treasurer shall make a final
determination of the tax collector’s
outstanding liability as expeditiously
as possible after his final tax return
has been filed; if the treasurer
cannot make such final determination
within forty-five (45) days after
receiving the final tax return, within
such period, he shall so notify the
tax collector, stating his reason
therefore.

Information supplied on the application
required by this section shall be
updated within thirty (30) days of any
change or alteration thereof upon revision
forms supplied by the treasurer.

(Ord. No. 087-5754, § 1, 12-29-87)

Sec. 44-194. Books and records; inspections;
contents.

The treasurer, or any person certified
by him as his deputy or representative,
may enter the common and business
premises of any hotel for inspection
of books and records in order to effectuate
the proper administration of this article
and to assure the enforcement of the
collection of the tax imposed.

No person shall prevent, hinder
or interfere with the treasurer or his
duly authorized deputy or representative
in the discharge of his duties under
this article.

It shall be the duty of every
owner to keep accurate and complete books
and records to which the treasurer or
his duly authorized deputy or representative
shall at all times have full access,
which records shall include a daily
sheet showing:

The number of hotel rooms rented
during the twenty-four-hour period,
including multiple rental of the
same hotel room where such shall
occur.

The actual hotel receipts collected
for the date in question.

(Ord. No. 087-5754, § 1, 12-29-87)

Sec. 44-195. Reporting; transmittal; delinquency;
penalty.

Monthly reporting. The owner or
owners of each hotel room within the
city shall file monthly tax returns showing
tax receipts received with respect to
each hotel room during each month. The
returns shall be due on or before the
last day of the month for the preceding
calendar month.

In addition, the owner of each hotel
within the city that has collected
ten thousand dollars ($10,000.00) or
more of the tax herein imposed and levied
during its fiscal year shall provide
the treasurer with a certified statement
from an independent certified public
accountant within one hundred eighty
(180) days following the end of such
hotel’s fiscal year showing the amount
of such tax which was due, collected,
and paid to the city during the fiscal
year.

Transmittal
of tax. The tax shall
be due on the day the monthly return
is due as provided herein. At the
time of filing such return, the owner
shall pay to the treasurer all taxes,
interest and penalties, if any, due for
the period to which the return applies.
A commission, as set by subsection (d),
may be deducted when timely payments
are made of taxes due.

Failure to pay
tax. If for any
reason any tax is not paid when due,
a penalty and interest, as set by subsection
(d), on the amount of tax which remains
unpaid shall be added and collected,
and the amount of commission set therein
may not be deducted. Whenever any person
shall fail to pay any tax as herein
provided, the corporation counsel upon
the request of the mayor shall bring
or cause to be brought an action to enforce
the payment of the tax on behalf of the
city in any court of competent jurisdiction.

Schedule of
certain rates. The
following rates are hereby set for purposes
of this article; provided that, the treasurer
may from time to time increase or
decrease any rate hereunder in order
to equal those rates set forth from time
to time by the Hotel Operators’ Occupation
Tax Act [Ill. Rev. Stat. Ch. 1205, ¶ 481b.
31 et seq.]:

Commission, two and one-tenth
(2.1) percent or twenty-five dollars
($25.00) per calendar year whichever
is greater, deducted from the amount
of tax due, if payment is made on
a timely basis.

Penalty, seven and one-half
(7.5) percent added to the amount
of tax unpaid and uncollected.

Interest, one and one-quarter
(1.25) percent added per month to
the amount of tax unpaid and uncollected.

(Ord. No. 087-5754, § 1, 12-29-87)

Sec. 44-196. Suspension or revocation
of licenses for failure to pay tax;
hearing.

If the mayor or other city official
responsible for the issuance of a city
license, permit or other approval,
including, but not limited to, a liquor
license, after hearing held by or for
him, shall find that any person has
willfully evaded payment or collection
and remittance of the tax imposed by
this article, he may suspend or revoke
the city license, permit or other approval
held by such tax evader. Said person
shall have an opportunity to be heard
at such hearing to be held not less
than seven (7) days after notice is
given to him of the time and place
of the hearing to be held, addressed
to him at his last known place of business.
Pending the notice, hearing and finding,
any license, permit or other approval
issued by the city to the person may
be temporarily suspended. No suspension
or revocation hereunder shall release
or discharge the person from his civil
liability for the payment or collection
and remittance of the tax, nor from
prosecution for such offense.

(Ord. No. 087-5754, § 1, 12-29-87)

Sec. 44-197. Notice of noncompliance.

If it shall appear to the treasurer that
any person has violated any provision
of this article, or any rule or regulation
promulgated hereunder, the treasurer
may refer the matter to the corporation
counsel for prosecution, or may issue
such person a notice of noncompliance
describing the violation and requesting
it cease within a period of time not
less than ten (10) days. If adequate
proof that such violation has ceased
is not submitted to the treasurer within
the time period set in the notice, the
treasurer may take any other appropriate
action authorized by this article or
otherwise provided by law.

(Ord. No. 087-5754, § 1, 12-29-87)

Sec. 44-198. Proceeds.

Except as provided in subsection
(b), all proceeds resulting from the
imposition of the tax under this article,
including interest and penalties, shall
be paid into the treasury of the city
and be credited to and deposited in the
general fund of the city.

Effective January 1, 1992, the
city treasurer shall pay over ninety
(90) percent of the proceeds of the tax
imposed hereunder to the Aurora Area
Convention and Tourism Council under
any intergovernmental cooperation agreement
approved, from time to time, by city
council resolution.

Sec. 44-199. Exemption.

The tax imposed by this article
shall not apply to hotel resident employees.

The tax imposed by this article
shall not apply to the occupancy of a
specific room by a permanent resident
only if the following conditions are
met:

The permanent resident actually
occupied, or had the right to occupy,
the room during the entire reporting
period; and

The specific room occupied by
the permanent resident was not occupied
on a non-leasehold basis at any time
during the reporting period for which
the exemption is claimed; and

The permanent resident did not
assign, sublease or otherwise transfer
a real interest in the room during
the reporting period for which the
exemption is claimed.

In addition, a hotel owner,
manager, or operator may only claim
an exemption for occupancies by permanent
residents if all of the following
conditions are met:

Less than half of the rooms
of the facility were available for
occupancy on a non-leasehold basis
on any day during the reporting period
for which the exemption is claimed;
and

More than half of the rooms
of the facility were actually occupied
by permanent residents or were vacant
each day of the reporting period for
which the exemption is claimed; and

The facility does not operate
as a “hotel” within
the meaning of Section 7 of the Innkeeper
Protection Act(740 ILCS 90/7) as amended.

(Ord. No. 087-5754, § 1, 12-29-87;
Ord. No. O03-96, § 2, 7-22-03)

Sec. 44-200. Acts of agent or employee.

Every act or omission of whatsoever nature
constituting a violation of any of the
provisions of this article, by any officer,
director, manager or other agent or employee
of an owner, shall be deemed and held
to be the act of such owner, and the
owner shall be liable and punishable
in the same manner as if said act or
omission had been done or omitted by
the owner personally.

(Ord. No. 087-5754, § 1, 12-29-87)

Sec. 44-201. Penalties.

Any owner or person violating, disobeying,
omitting, neglecting or refusing to comply
with any of the provisions of this article
shall be punished as provided in section
1-10, unless otherwise specifically provided
in section 1-11.

(Ord. No. 087-5754, § 1, 12-29-87;
Ord. No. O02-112, § 5, 11-22-02)

Sec. 44-202. Preparation; service of citations.

The finance director and his designees
are deemed peace officers and may prepare
and serve citations personally or by
certified mail for violations of sections
44-193, 44-194 or 44-195.